Failure to Provide Properly Pureed Food for Resident on Modified Diet
Penalty
Summary
Staff failed to provide food in a form that met the individual needs of a resident who required a pureed diet due to diagnoses including Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and dysphagia. The resident's diet order specified a regular diet with pureed texture, and the facility's meal spreadsheet indicated that pureed versions of certain foods, such as brussels sprouts and ham, should be provided. However, during meal preparation, staff were observed blending brussels sprouts with bacon, but not all pieces were fully pureed, leaving visible chunks of brussels sprout leaves and bacon in the container. The blended mixture was then served with these unpureed pieces still present. Further observations and interviews with the Kitchen Manager and Diet Tech confirmed that the pureed foods, including ham and au gratin potatoes, were not of the required smooth, pudding-like consistency, and contained chunks that should not have been present. The facility's own policy required pureed foods to be processed until smooth, but this was not followed, as evidenced by the presence of unpureed bacon and vegetable pieces in the meals prepared for the resident on a pureed diet.